Patton called the M1 Garand "the greatest battle implement ever devised," and for once the general was not exaggerating. The United States was the only major power to enter the war with a semi-automatic rifle as standard issue — where German and Japanese riflemen worked a bolt between shots, the GI could fire eight rounds as fast as he could pull the trigger. The rifle fed from an en-bloc clip that ejected with a distinctive metallic "ping" when empty, and loading it in a hurry risked the notorious "M1 thumb," pinched by the bolt as it slammed home. Sheer volume of rifle fire became an American signature on the battlefield.

The figure catches that split second: prone behind cover, thumbing a fresh en-bloc clip down into the receiver, in an M1943 field jacket and netted helmet. He anchors a firing-line diorama — set him reloading beside the Infantryman Kneeling Firing M1 Garand and the Infantryman Standing Firing M1 Garand, with the Infantryman with M1 Garand moving up to fill the line.

W. Britain model 25288. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single prone foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.